MCKEEVERS WIN CANADA'S FIRST GOLD AT PARALYMPIC GAMES

SALT LAKE CITY, USA--For a man who claims he prefers the longer distances, Canmore's Brian McKeever and his guide and brother Robin, obliterated the field and won a gold medal in the 5km cross-country classic race at Soldier Hollow in a time of 12:07.3 on Saturday.

Brian McKeever

From the time the McKeever's left the starting gate, they were men on a mission. Their aggressive style was unmatched as they powered their way through the field. After posting one of the fastest times in biathlon but missing three targets to finish 6th on Friday, Brian McKeever knew that he had the ability to push his limits and compete in this field.

"This is thrilling," said Brian, the younger brother by six years. "It means so much to me. I mean, we're the new kids on the block at the moment so this is really exciting. It's a hard course, which I think is a good thing for us because we're good technical skiers. We also had awesome skis today, they were ripping good. What is also great is that we didn't only win our class, but also overall. This also means a lot to us."

A sit-ski athlete competes in biathlon at the Nagano Games (Kazuji Shimizu)

"I'm very happy with the way we skied today," said Robin McKeever who competed in the Olympics in Nagano. "Brian got new skis this year and they are just impeccable. He can follow me much better and easier than last year. Today it was exceptional."

In other results Shauna Maria Whyte was 5th in the 2.5km cross-country sitski race. Whyte had Canada's best result on Friday with a fourth place finish in biathlon.

WISNIEWSKA WINS CANADA'S FIRST MEDAL AT PARALYMPIC GAMES

SALT LAKE CITY, USA--In a discipline she freely admits is not her favourite, Calgary's Karolina Wisniewska won a bronze medal in the women's downhill on Saturday.

Karolina Wisniewska

"Everyone knows I'm not a downhiller," beamed Wisniewska who was a double silver medallist in Nagano in 1998. "I told myself to be aggressive at the start and then be patient throughout the race." Wisniewska's best friend and teammate Lauren Woolstencroft crashed part way through the course while Wisniewska was waiting in the holding area. "It was really hard for me to focus," added Wisniewska. "We were waiting so long in the holding area that I thought the injury had to have been severe."

Woolstencroft injured her left knee on her way down the course. "She didn't remember the crash but she was lucid," said Canadian Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gaetan Tardif. "There are no fractures but we'll get an MRI done back at the Polyclinic."

Stacy Kohut finished 5th in the sit-ski downhill event and was 4th in the sit-ski Super G event. Ian Balfour was fourth in the LW6/8 (upper limb amputation) category downhill competition.

*Check out the Salt Lake City Paralympic Games website for more great stories and pictures from the Games.

WOTHERSPOON, LE MAY DOAN CROWNED WORLD CUP
SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONS

INZELL, GER--Jeremy Wotherspoon earned a fifth straight World Cup long track speed skating title in the men's 1000m and his fourth in five years in the 500m in a busy day of racing on Saturday at the World Cup final in Germany.

Catriona Le May Doan also clinched the 500m crown on Friday, but lost her first race at the distance this season to end a 20-race victory streak. She did however win her first 1000m race of the season on Sunday with a time of 1:17.39. "I'm pretty happy with it," said Le May Doan, who confirmed she'll race again next season. "I was sort of battling myself with the wind and the cold at the start but with a lap to go I knew I was having a very strong race." Wotherspoon won the World Cup 500m title with 630 points, after finishing third on Saturday. In 10 races this season he won four times including the first three. Mike Ireland, who finished 13th on Saturday, finished fourth overall with 478 points.

Catriona Le May Doan on the podium for the 500m with Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt (GER) and Svetlana Zhurova (RUS). (Reuters-Tobias Schwartz)

"I haven't been happy with my races the last couple of weeks but I did what I had to do to maintain my rankings," said Wotherspoon, also the world sprint champion earlier this year. "It's not uncommon at the end of the season to lose some of your snap and your power."

Wotherspoon also took his fifth straight 1,000 World Cup title with 450 points. He earned two victories at the distance in seven races. Ireland finished fourth with 373. Wotherspoon admits the World Cup crowns don't heal the pain from his disappointing performance at the Olympics where he didn't win a medal. "I view the World Cup and Olympics as two separate things," he said. "I want to be good at both. The World Cup success shows consistency and that our program is certainly working to assure that we're good every year."

Jeremy Wotherspoon competing in the 500m. (AP/ Diether Endlicher)

In the women's 1500m Cindy Klassen, the Olympic bronze medallist in the 3000m, finished third again at 2:02.62 and finished third overall in the World Cup standings with 330 points. Dustin Molicki was eighth in the 1500m on Sunday to place fourth overall on Sunday. Molicki earned one gold and one silver in six races this year in the 1500m. In the women's 3000m, Kristina Groves posted her best result this season placing fifth. The long track season officially concludes next weekend with the World All Round Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

SIMARD ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ON ALPINE WORLD CUP

ZAUCHENSEE, AUT--Canadian Alpine Ski Team racer Geneviève Simard was named the Winterthur rookie of the year on the World Cup ski circuit last weekend at the World Cup Finals in Zauchensee, Austria.

Simard capped off her World Cup Super-G season by finishing 11th on Thursday. The result pushed Simard to 17th in the Super-G world rankings, and cemented her position as the most promising new racer on the women's circuit. "It's great to see a young Canadian girl do so well in a full World Cup season," said Alpine Canada Alpin athletic director Joze Sparovec. "We knew Gen was ready to break top-30, but we never thought she'd be on the podium this year."

Geneviève Simard skis the Super-G at the World Cup finals. (Reuters/Ruben Sprich)

Two seasons removed from a knee injury, Simard burst onto the World Cup scene in her first race at Copper Mountain, Colo. with a surprising 15th place finish in giant slalom. The next stop in Lake Louise, she started both downhills and the Super-G with the final bib number and nailed every run, earning an 11th place finish in the Super-G. She finished 8th in the Super-G at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December to qualify for her first Olympic Games, then Simard rang in the New Year with a podium finish in the giant slalom in Berchtesgaden, Germany. At Salt Lake City, Simard had one of the best Canadian Alpine results, finishing 7th in the combined event, which includes tackling the speed of a downhill run and the technical expertise of a slalom.

"People at my club laughed when I said I wanted to ski World Cup," said Simard. "But I always try for perfection. I like that sweet feeling I get when I get on the podium or have a really good run."

This is the inaugural Winterthur award designed to recognize excellence in first-year World Cup racers. Each time a racer starts with a bib number higher than 45 and cracks top-15, the athlete is awarded a gold nugget. Simard has won three of the nuggets this year.

CANADIANS COMPETE IN FIRST-EVER NORDIC DOUBLE PURSUIT

FALUN, SWE--Canadian cross-country skiers continued to break trail on the Nordic World Cup last week as Beckie Scott and her teammates raced in the first-ever Nordic Double Pursuit event on Saturday.

"This was really fun!" said Sara Renner from Canmore, Alberta. "It was a dog-fight the whole way."

Beckie Scott

The new event is structured much like the one-day pursuit where Scott won her Olympic bronze medal last month, but with two significant differences. The first is in the start format of the first 5km classic race. Instead of starting in 30-second time-trial intervals, the skiers start en masse in a Mass Start. After the first 5km portion is complet,e the athletes change to their skating style skis and poles while in the stadium, and continue with the second 5km skating portion of the event.

Sara Renner

This is unlike the one-day pursuit where the athletes get a two-hour rest between races. The equipment changeover, as in a triathlon, occurs while the clock is running and becomes an important part of the race.

Scott finished 24th in a field of 70 racers followed closely by Renner in 27th. Amanda Fortier moved up 10 places in the second half to finish in 34th, followed by her sister Jaime Fortier in 42nd, who also made great gains in the second half of the race by moving up 13 positions. Milaine Theriault finished in 44th.

The women's 4x7.5km relay team finished sixth on Sunday.

DOUBLE-MEDAL DAY FOR CANADIAN MOGULLISTS

MADARAO, Japan -- It was a double-medal day for Canadian freestyle skiers on Saturday, as Ryan Johnson won the second World Cup of his career and Jennifer Heil captured a medal for the second straight weekend.

Johnson, 27, last won a World Cup at Breckenridge, Colo., in 1997 in an individual moguls final. After having an up-and-down season, he cracked the top 10 at the Olympic Games for the second time. For Saturday's victory, Johnson defeated Ryan Riley of the U.S. in the dual to determine the top two medallists, while Yugo Tsukita of Japan prevailed in the bronze-medal dual against Stefan Zant of Germany. Johnson ended up 10th overall in the World Cup standings with his win.

Heil, who missed a medal at last month's Olympic Games by 1/100th of a point, lost the gold-medal dual to Ingrid Bernsten of Norway to emerge with the silver. Heil finished fourth overall in the World Cup standings as a result of her silver medal.

The Canadian team finished out of the medals on Sunday.

MYDEN PRE-SELECTED FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES

OTTAWA, ON--Curtis Myden was preselected for the Commonwealth Games swim team last Wednesday because a back injury will keep him from competing at the trials later this month.

Myden suffered a bulging disc in his back while water-skiing last summer. When he returned to training, the injury didn't heal and doctors felt he needed to take stress off his back. He is back in the pool but his training is limited. "The injury was more serious than they thought and the doctors recommended that he skip the trials," said Canadian national team coach Dave Johnson. "But they expect he'll be recovered in time for the Games."

Myden, 28, is three-time Olympic bronze medalist. He will race in some events leading up to the Games and will need to pass an fitness appraisal prior to the June 25 deadline for naming the Games team.

The trials are set for March 19 to 24 in Winnipeg. A total of 40 swimmers will be selected for Commonwealth Games squad.

IN THE NEWS...

OTTAWA - The Coaching Association of Canada and the Women in Coaching program congratulate the following women coaches who guided their athletes to medal performances in Salt Lake City.